sarah louise - field guide

the mountains and valleys of north carolina and the surrounding states seem lately to be producing a bumper crop of new recordings in the guitar soli genre, following in the footsteps of luminaries whose names are becoming all too easy to invoke in write-ups like these. however, unlike the unending reviews and blog posts (my bad), each new recording has a singular charm and merit of it's own. such is the case with sarah louise's 'field guide', a gossamer like album of guitar soli excursions, mountain ragas, and timeless renditions of appalachian hymns.

the album starts with a guitar ramble, with notes that flow from the speaker like clear water over blue ridge limestone. but the surprise of the album comes in sarah louise's stark, haunting renditions of the songs of the old-time, backwoods religion of appalachian hollers. her first variation of the spiritual 'home over yonder' sounds more like an ecstatic expression of faith and sorrow due to the modern and psychedelic touch of coupling her voice with a droning keyboard passed through a wah pedal.